Search

Ammon of Alexandria is known solely through the letter that bears his name ( Epistula Ammonis). Composed in response to a request from a certain Theophilus, likely the archbishop of Alexandria, the letter recounts Ammon’s conversion, entry into the monastic life, three-year tenure in the Pachomian monastery of Pbow, and subsequent move to the mountain of Nitria. The information on Ammon is, however, incidental to the letter’s primary focus on Theodore, the head of the Pachomian federation, about whom T…

Abraham of Pbou (or Pbow) served as the last Coptic Orthodox abbot of the Pachomian monastic federation. His tenure during the 6th-century CE reign of Justinian I (527–565 CE) was marked by sharp divisions within the federation over the Council of Chalcedon, political intrigue undertaken by the pro-Chalcedonian elements within it to remove him, and the resulting loss of the Pachomian movement to Coptic Orthodoxy. Forced out of the federation, Abraham returned to his native Farshut, where he esta…

[German Version] (439, Cappadocia – May 12, 532, Palestine), founder of the Great Laura (Mar Saba). Sabas moved to Palestine as an ascetic at the age of 17, where he was sent to a monastery by Euthymius. He eventually embraced an anchoritic life, wandering in the desert for a number of years before settling in a cave in the Cedron Ravine. He began to attract disciples, which marks the beginning of the Great Laura. Its success led to the foundation of other related ascetic communities nearby. Sabas…

[German Version] (4th cent., Egypt), anchorite and author of the legendary Vita Timothei et Onuphri (BHO 818). The text recounts Paphnutius’s miraculous journey deep into the Egyptian desert, to the cell of the aged Onuphrius. Paphnutius recorded Onuphrius’s story, and buried him. James E. Goehring Bibliography R.G. Coquin, “Paphnutius the Hermit, Saint,” The Coptic Encyclopedia VI, 1991, 1882f. T. Vivian, Histories of the Monks of Upper Egypt and the”Life of Onnophrius”by Paphnutius, 1993.

[German Version] (4th cent. ce, Egypt). Horsiesi was a follower of the coenobitic monk Pachomius. Appointed as head of the monastery of Seneset, he was named by Pachomius's successor Petronius on his deathbed as the third superior of the entire Pachomian community. Unable to quell the divisions that had arisen within the community following Pachomius's death, he appointed Theodore as his replacement and withdrew to Seneset. On Theodore's death he successfully resumed the position of superior, though grumbling about his leadership ¶ continued. His surviving writings include the Libe…

[German Version] (4th cent., Egypt), ascetic living in solitude from the region of Heracleopolis in the Fayyum. He died in his cell in the year 394/395, shortly before the visit of a group of pilgrims, who collected and recorded stories about him ( Historia monachorum 16). The stories compare favorably the virtuous lives of three urban dwellers (a flautist, the head of a village, and a pearl merchant) with the ascetic life of Paphnutius. James E. Goehring Bibliography ¶ A.-J. Festugière, Les moines d’orient, vol. IV/1: Enquête sur les moines d’Égypte, 1964, 90–97.

[German Version] (4th cent., Egypt), ascetic priest, who was visited by Cassian in Scetis. Paphnutius appears as speaker in Cassian’s “On Renunciation” in: Collationes patrum. His preference for solitude earned him the nickname “Antilope” (bubal) (Cass., Collationes III; XVIII 15). He is probably the same figure as Paphnutius Kephalas (Palladius of Helenopolis, Historia Lausiaca 47; Apophth. Patr., Antonius 29). James E. Goehring Bibliography A. Guillaumont, “Paphnutius of Scetis, Saint,” The Coptic Encyclopedia VI, 1991, 1884.

[German Version] (late 3rd – 4th cent., Egypt), bishop and ascetic. Paphnutius was mutilated in the early persecutions of the 4th century. Later he participated in the Council of Nicea, where he defended married clerics and gained the favor of Constantine the Great (Tyrannius Rufinus, Hist. eccl. X 4.18; Sozomen, Hist. eccl. I 10.23). He is reputed to have had links with St. Anthony (Athan., Vita Antonii, 58), and is credited with miracles. James E. Goehring Bibliography F. Winkelmann, “Paphnutius. Der Bekenner und Bischof,” in: P. Nagel, ed., Probleme der koptischen Literatur, 1968, …

[German Version] (4th cent., Egypt) was the fourth general superior of the Pachomian Federation. The son of a prominent Upper Egyptian family, he joined the Pachomian movement in 328 where he became a favorite of Pachomius. He eventually assumed leadership of the movement from Horsiesi, stemming an imminent breakup of the Federation. He reestablished centralized authority, fashioned new regulations to ensure unity among the monasteries within the system, and developed closer ties with the Alexandrian episcopacy. In addition to his major role in the Vita Pachomii, three fragmenta…

[German Version] (1508, Zakynthos – 1553, Zakynthos), theologian and popular educator under Turkish rule. Study in Venice was followed by periods as a monk in the Iviron monastery (Athos). Through his thorough knowledge of classical, biblical, and patristic literature he became a warning voice against dangerous teachings of his time. In his book De divinarum Scripturarum utilitate (PG 98, 1333A–1360A), he recommends it as a medicine against religious and moral uncertainty, and against the collapse of language into what have become barbarian dialects.…

[German Version] (late 3rd – 4th cent., Egypt) was a creative Christian scholar who formed a separatist ascetic community in the city of Leontopolis. Influenced by Origen's thought, his teachings included the rejection of marriage, belief in a spiritual resurrection, and the identification of the Holy Spirit with Melchizedek. He wrote in both Greek and Coptic, composing canticles and commentaries for use in his community. Rejected by the institutional church, he is known today chiefly through the hostile report of Epiphanius of Salamis ( Haer. 67). James E. Goehring Bibliography A. H…

[German Version] (c. 292–346, Pabau), Egyptian saint and founder of cenobitic (Cenobites) monasticism. It is reported that he came from a non-Christian family close to the Thebaid. Shortly after his conversion ¶ at the age of 20 he embraced an ascetic life as a disciple of the anchorite Palamon. His vision of a more organized form of the ascetic life led him to form his own community in 323 in the deserted village of Tabennisi. The regulated communal life that he developed there proved very attractive. By the time of his death…

[German Version] (from Gk παραβαλανεῖς/ parabalaneís, lit. “bath attendants”), Alexandrian church personnel, assigned to care for the sick ( Cod. Theod. XVI 2.43). While their origin, clerical status, and the precise nature of their work remain obscure, by the 5th century they were a select force, recruited from the poorer sections of society, who proved fiercely loyal to the ecclesiastical ¶ authorities. Bishops made use of them on occasion for ruthless accomplishment of their goals. Parabalani seem to have been involved in the murder of Hypatia of Alexa…